Title : A tea-house waitress

Artist : Koho

Date : 1920

Details : More information...

Source : Japanese Art Open Database
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Description : Friday, 2 September 2011 Hi Frank, The first three prints are by Koho and published by Hasegawa in the 1910s/20s/30s. With the catalogue numbers as well as no margins I doubt these were printed later by Nishinomiya Yosaku. The 4th print is by Gesso. I'm not sure from what date the Japanese were forced to use the "Made in Japan" seal, but shinhanga.net state "A: Soon after World War I the U.S. began to require country-of-origin markings on imported goods, culminating in 1930 with the famous Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act. Hence the beginnings of "Made in Japan", including our then lowly woodblock prints." So that begs the question: when did Nishinomiya take over from Hasegawa? Well, Shotei.com states: "It's not known exactly when the business passed from father to son, but by 1936, only Nishinomiya's name appeared on copyright stamps on their prints." So I think your prints date to the late 20s or early 30s. My Hasegawa catalogue published circa late 1910s lists "Japanese scenes on Tanzaku (Size 13.25 x 3 inches), 8 different series in stock, Per each set of 12 prints, 350 yen". So that is 96 prints in all, starting with a catalogue number of 1501, so your prints mostly fit that entry (my catalogue doesn't list all items either). I did some research on Hasegawa's Koho but he still remains a mystery. Most say he was Koho Shoda (1871-1946), but he could also be Koho Kiroku (1875 to 1925). There is very little information on either artist. Cheers, Ross ****************************************************************** Dr Ross F. Walker, Professor Ohmi Gallery Ritsumeikan University, BKC Campus, Kusatsu, 527-8577, Japan ****************************************************************** Subject: Pre-war prints Dear Ross, I trust that this finds you well and enjoying early autumn in Japan. Sorry to ask for your assistance again, but I'm not able to identify the two artists chops/signature on the attached prints. You have so much knowledge on works of that period, I'm taking the liberty of sending images as well as a close-ups of the chop/signature. The three with the red chop were all attached to backing cards with stock numbers 1530, 1593 and 1605. With the four-digit stock numbers and the look and feel of them, do you think that they may have come from Hasegawa/Nishinomiya? They do not have the "made in Japan" chop on the reverse. Would the 1930's be the correct period? Many thanks and best wishes, Frank

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